Twitter has competition more suited to business use

But Twitter isn't the only social networking tool on the block, and there are many others that might be more appropriate for business use, such as Yammer or Socialtext's Signals.

Consider two of Twitter's shortcomings: the inconsistent delivery ties and the ease in which information leaks to employees' public-facing Twitter connections. Yammer integrates its social networking conversations with its own IM service, and both Yammer and Socialtext keep conversations behind the firewall by default.

And both companies' products honor business needs that a pure Web 2.0 offering may see as uncool. For example, because e-mail is still an integral part of how employees communicate, especially the older generation, Yammer lets users send and receive messages through the corporate e-mail server, and users must be in the company-approved e-mail directory.

Yammer users can also post questions or search for discussion topics or through profiles -- for example, to look for in-house company experts. And it functions as a company discussion board, letting users create groups within the organization and target discussions to that group alone.

When an employee leaves the company, their messages can be archived with the ability to expunge the conversations according to a time frame set by company policy, notes Yammer CEO David Sacks.

At Socialtext, the company has announced the beta release of Socialtext Desktop, which displays the "signals" posted by colleagues and groups. Employees can use it to send "signals" or to view the messaging stream for anyone in the company. It also includes a pop-up notification alert to keep users aware of the latest news.

Don't expect Twitter, Socialtext, or Yammer to create world peace, no matter how many people across the globe start talking with one another. But there is no doubt that this social networking technology is becoming an important tool to keep personal and business relationships going.